I'll have to agree. Actually you don't even need $300. Take a look at the M-Audio Audiophile 24/96. It has 24-bit 96khz recording, unbalanced ins and outs and S/PDIF I/O. It also has MIDI I/O. I think you can pick one up for about $175.
Yeah...if you have a Guitar center in town...call to see if they have one, then print the page for the link above and take it to em....they will price match...no problem